KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s Chef de Mission to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin will strive to seek additional accreditation cards for the team of professional men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia.
Hamidin, who visited Zii Jia during his training session yesterday, said the world number seven player requested to bring his sparring partner and physiotherapist to the prestigious global sporting event.
“Zii Jia and his coach Wong Tat Meng are confirmed. Maybe we will try to get one or two more (accreditation cards) to fulfil his wish to play with peace of mind.
“His other team members will stay outside the Olympic Village, but we also have other options like daily passes, and worst comes to worst, we will provide transportation for him to go out for rehab at certain times,” he said when met yesterday.
He added that Zii Jia has informed him of his readiness to spring a surprise in his second Olympic appearance after the 2020 edition in Tokyo.
However, Hamidin advised the 26-year-old player that it is important to advance to the quarter-finals first before thinking about going further in Paris.
Meanwhile, the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) deputy president announced that the 2024 Australian Open champion will not join the training session with players under the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) in Lille, France, next month.
Instead, he said Zii Jia chose to undergo his final preparations in Singapore for a week starting this weekend.
“Zii Jia will train in Singapore with players from that country and Thailand. Then, he will return to Malaysia to train with Thai players,” he said.
In other developments, Hamidin was impressed with the high spirits of Paris-bound national athletes, including archer Ariana Nur Dania Mohamad Zairi and diver Bertrand Rhodict Lises, who expressed their determination to bring home medals even though it will be their first time stepping onto the Olympic stage.
The 2024 Olympic Games will take place from July 26 to August 11. – BERNAMA-XINHUA
